


free me from aching care

by PowerSuitDyke



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: AU The Proposal, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, kind of, they dont dislike each other so much but, this is going to be Soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26377465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerSuitDyke/pseuds/PowerSuitDyke
Summary: Villanelle Astankova has spent the past three years working at Parks Publishing as Eve Park's personal assistant. But how are they to navigate their, at best, civil relationship when Eve is threatened with deportation?or,The Proposal AU that I am shamelessly writing because I love this type of AU and I haven't really seen any around. Also, Boris is probs gonna throw us into another lockdown because of the government's incompetence handling 'Rona so this will be finished.T for now ;)
Relationships: Carolyn Martens/Konstantin Vasiliev, Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 22
Kudos: 127





	1. are you nice because your nice or are you nice because you need something?

**Author's Note:**

> i have no beta and have a v quick proof-read, we die like women. i also am english and have no idea about america or anywhere similar geographically so this will probably be wildly inaccurate.

A soft fuzziness clouds the edges of VIllanelle's vision as she opens her eyes to the soft morning sun. There's an arm draped across her stomach, hair tickling her chin and, for a brief moment, she feels content. Then she realises that she woke naturally, her alarm laying silent on her bedside table and not thrown across the room. She blinks a couple more times to clear her eyes and bolts straight up, disturbing the sleeping brunette next to her.

"Shit! Shit! Motherfuck-" cursing as she opens her closet to find an acceptable outfit, "why in fucking God's name did this have to happen?"

There is confused grumbling still coming from her bed as a curly mane lifts slightly and she finds eyes peering at her, eyebrows knit together.

"Hey... what time is it?" the soft timbre of her voice has already become an annoyance to Villanelle and she's said five words.

"It's about 8:15 and I need you to leave." Villanelle says hastily, rushing to slide on her Louboutins as she hastily puts her hair into a low bun.

"Good morning to you too."

"Listen..." Villanelle pauses, trying to remember the brunette's name, "babe, I am gonna be super late for work and my boss is an arsehole. She will very possibly throw every piece of stationary on her desk at me very violently if I'm not there before her waiting for her coffee. I need you to go." 

The woman looks at her, shock apparent on her features before she grabs her clothes and hastily changes. Villanelle walks her over to the door when it's apparent the other woman is waiting, opening it hastily and ushering her out.

"It's Maria!" the woman hisses as she walks through the door.

"What?" Villanalle asks, throwing her phone and tablet into her bag.

"My name, you asshole!" Is the final thing shouted before Villanelle sees her storm off.

Villanelle's wants to feel guilty, she truly does, but she can't for the life of her conjure up an ounce more mental capacity because Eve is going to stab her if she's late. She rushes out of the door shortly after Maria, deciding to take the stairs down because she both does not want to see Maria again and she knows it will get her out of the lobby quicker.

Stopping at Cafe Nero, she sees Laura smile at her and gesture for her to come to the front of the queue, much to everyone's annoyance.

"You're running a little late, aren't you?" She asks as she hands over her regular order in a drinks tray, grinning playfully as she does so.

"Yes, massively. You're a life saver, you are the light of my life, a blessing truly. Bye!" She rambles as she leaves the cafe, all but sprinting to get to Park's Publishing. 

Looking at her watch, she sees that it's 8:35 and she has about 15 minutes to get to Eve's office before Eve does herself. So she uses all of the athleticism she has in her body to cut the 15 minute walk into a 9 minute one and get to her office with 3 minutes to spare. But, as soon as she's rounding the corner to Eve's office she walks into Hugo and spills Eve's coffee everywhere.

"Woahhh!" Hugo says as his pink shirt gets covered in coffee, looking down at himself before back at Villanelle incredulously.

"Hugo, I'm going to fucking kill you!" Villanelle hisses at him as she looks at the remnants of eve's coffee cup as it lay right next to her shoes, her very expensive shoes. She glares at Hugo as he holds his hands up in surrender and grabs the cup off of the floor. "You are paying to have these cleaned!" She calls after herself as she rushes into the office, very thankful that at least her clothes were saved in the collission. They were heavily expensive, the kind of stuff she couldn't afford if it were not for her parents and some extracurriculars outside of her job; her Maison Rabith Kayrouz pleat satin trousers and Petar Petrov Connor Silk Blouse were beautiful and she appreciated beauty. 

The sound of a sharp heal snapped Villanelle from her thoughts and she turned while holding out the coffee for Eve to take. She walked into the office and grabbed the coffee with a smile, giving her a grateful nod as she sat down. 

"What's today's schedule?" Eve asked, head already buried in her laptop, not giving Villanelle a second glance. 

"You have a meeting with Frank Haleton at 10, he wants to go over some of the memos an-"

"Cancel it, tell him to email me with any suggestions and I will inform him of any I take, I can't spend any amount of time with that insufferable dickswab today. Next?" Eve's bluntness was always something that shocked others but Villanelle was unfazed by. Growing up with Russian parents will do that to you, especially the ones she grew up with. But luckily she ended up being adopted by with her uncle Konstantin. Her expensive clothes and beautiful apartment are the only things that would point to her having a well-off family. She did earn every penny she has spent, however, wanting to earn her way in the world.

"Okay," Villanelle has already sent off the email she was expecting to send already, really, 

"you have a meeting at 11 with me, your lunch is at 1:00 and so I ordered from that Italian place down the street that you love, it should be delivered a little before then so I'll make sure to pick it up. I also have to discuss my holiday request with you but I'm sure we could cover that in our meeti-"

"Your holiday request has been declined. I have a stack of editing that'll take a long time to get through and I need you by my side while I talk people like Frank Haleton down, you have that whole death glare thing that always has him looking castrated, it ends those meetings much quicker."

"I know, Eve, but this is a really important family occassion, if I miss another one I'm not too sure they'll speak to me again."

"Listen, I'm sorry but I can't see you becoming available, just call them and tell them I sa-"

Eve is cut off abruptly with the ringing of her desk phone, breaking the tension that was starting to rise in the office. Eve presses the speaker button in annoyance, groaning when Frank's voice booms through the speaker.

"Miss Park, we have more to discuss than these memos, this is urgent. Come to my office immediately." Frank's voice rings before he puts the phone down, leaving no room for discussion. Eve rolls her eyes and grumbles before she takes another sip of her coffee. Villanelle is holding the door open as Eve starts marching out.

"So where did you spill my coffee?" She asks as they walk towards the elevator.

"What?" Villanelle asks, looking around to see if Hugo has appeared in all his mole-rat and coffee-stained glory.

"Well, I am pretty sure that Laura doesn't want to give me her number and I am definitely sure my name doesn't begin with a V." Eve points out, turning the coffee towards Villanelle with a raised eyebrow and there it is, in thick black writing; 'hey V, here's my number, we should go out some time xo'. 

"Hugo." Villanelle tells her, Eve's expression shifting to confusion, "he walked into me and you're coffee is now all over him... and some got on my shoes." Eve glances down briefly, eyeing the shoes and her brow knits together slightly before the elevator snaps her out of her thoughts and they walk towards Frank's office.

"Hello, Miss Park." Frank greets before catching Villanelle walk in after holding the door open, "Miss Astankova, always a pleasure." He breathes out, making Villanelle roll her eyes and sit by Eve's side, waiting for the signal for her death glare. "We're here because you have, on more than one occassion, failed to respond to your letters from the Department of Homeland Security." 

"There were a couple of letters tha-"

"They contacted me and it seems that I have to talk to you about your position here. You are to be deported in a week's time and I will be promoting Jess until we sort all of this out, if it can get sorted out."

"That seems drastic, I'm sure if I talk to the-"

"They have given you enough warnings, Eve. You are being deported."

"Well, you dont need to hire anyone else, I'll work in Canada unti-"

"No. Eve. This is it. You get this sorted as soon as possible and you can come back, but they will not process it for months. You have no position here unless you are in the U.S." His words are sharp, this is the most backbone either of the women have seen Frank possess. Villanelle's death glare is already aimed at him full force, which is probably why he hasn't looked at her yet. Villanelle feels eyes on her so she turns to Eve, confusion written across her features because her boss is a prick but she's also spent nearly every day with her for the past three years. Her eyes seem to look right into Villanelle's soul and she can see the cogs turning in Eve's head, a plan forming as she gives her a look that screams, 'please go with this'.

"Well, I have been meaning to talk to you about this because I know it can be considered a HR nightmare, but Villanelle and me are actually engaged." The words leave Eve's mouth and knock every drop of air out of Villanelle's lungs. Her head snaps towards her and Eve's hand lays above hers, intertwining their fingers.

"What? Eve, lying isn't going to-"

"It's true. We've been seeing each other seriously for about a year and a half, it happened pretty suddenly, but I asked her to marry me nearly four months ago." Villanelle lies smoothly, squeezing Eve's hand as she smiles lovingly in her direction, her eyes showing Eve that there is also a plan formulating in her mind she cannot say no to.

"Well, okay then. I never thought you'd be in that stereotype Eve. You need to talk to the agent in charge of your case at Homeland Security. You also need to talk to HR, you're right, this could be a nightmare." Villanelle stands abruptly, giving him a glare that would truly cower anyone before pulling Eve along behind her.


	2. so she wrote a plan for it on the back off a fag packet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A private negotiation and a talk with our dickend of a federal agent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you can tell I'm English with the way I phrase certain things and I feel like this is centered a bit more towards Vil's perspective so I'm blaming it on Carolyn's influence.

Villanelle didn't say a word to Eve until she had dragged her up to the roof of the building, knowing damn well that this conversation needed to be as far away from anyone's ears as possible. Eve was surprisingly pliant the entire way to the roof which means she was either self-centered enough to not care at all or that she knew she was in trouble. Villanelle lets go of Eve's hand when the door slams behind them, turning around and throwing that infamous death glare Eve's way. The rooftop garden is empty this early in the day fortunately so Villanelle's oncoming outburst would at least be private.

"What the FUCK Eve?" Is the first thing that escapes Villanelle's mouth. She is one of the most charming and flirty people she knows, if this was anyone else she would have teased them mercilessly by now, but this is Eve. Eve who is looking at her with something akin to guilt and embarrassment.

"Listen, Villanelle-"

"No, Eve, you listen," Villanelle was raised well and raised Russian, she is not letting this opportunity go, "if I go through with this I want you to consider my application to become an editor, I started here three years ago and should have been promoted by now. On top of that, you are going to accept my holiday request so I can see my family because if I miss one more occasion I think I will get disowned and my very Russian uncle and his very English wife will definitely come after you. Are we understood?"

Eve stares at Villanelle with her mouth hanging slightly, not used to seeing Villanelle be anything near this serious. She had always known that she didn't like her that much but, from how she can behave with others at the office, she knew hands down that Villanelle really exercised patience when it came to her. Sighing heavily, she sat on the nearest bench, leaning back, staring at the blue sky.

"God, I'm tired." She breathed before turning to look at Villanelle who came and stood in front of her, still expecting her reply. Eve reached for her cigarettes, lit one and was breathing in heavily before she decided to reply, the nicotine hitting. "Yes, okay, I'll do both of those things. You do not need to do this though, I don't want you to feel coerced or forced because my position as your boss an-"

"I just told you that I don't care. I was born here, despite what my accent may lead you to believe. Now lets go downstairs and try and do this as low-key as possible because if Hugo says one, and I mean one, lesbian joke I will punch him in the dick."

Eve studies her for a brief moment, something that in the three years of working together she has only done a handful of times. She likes to know people, Villanelle knows that, but she never truly took the time to learn about Villanelle. She always figured it came from a lack of care and the thought makes her a little bitter so, as Eve goes to walk towards the door, Villanelle catches her hand again.

"We didn't hold hands through the office before, we don't need to now." Eve's comment goes ignored verbally but she is being pulled back around to face Villanelle, registering how close they are to one another. She can feel Villanelle's breath across her face as a slow smirk appears on the lips she glances at briefly (and definitely only briefly, not any longer).

"I think you need to make this official first."

"What?"

"Get down on one knee, Eve. I know I said I proposed and that is definitely what we will tell others, but wouldn't it be charming if you did this? Just for us?" Villanelle's voice is honey sweet as she stares Eve down, Eve's incredulous expression still present on her face as she barks out a laugh.

"Well, enjoy Canada!" Villanelle exclaims as she walks past Eve before her hand is grabbed in the same way she has done to Eve twice today. They have hardly touched in the three years of knowing each other and this is an awful lot of touching being made up for in one day.

"No! Wait! Villanelle!" Eve pulls her around to face her before she grumbles slightly and gets down on one knee, "will you ma-"

"You need to say please, Eve, I'm not marrying someone impolite." Villanelle teases and Eve squeezes the hand she is holding extra tight as she rolls her eyes.

"Villanelle, will you, pretty please with a cherry on top, fake marry me for a temporary period of time?" Eve gets the words out through gritted teeth and a sickly sweet fake smile that makes Villanelle laugh.

"Wow, you really know how to charm a girl don't you?" Villanelle jokes before helping Eve back up. "We do really need to go and see this prick that is causing all of this havoc, I'll call ahead. Do we need to stop at your apartment to get any of your papers or anything?" Villanelle asks having already moved onto the next topic without losing the smirk that is driving Eve slightly insane. She's still her boss, she shouldn't look so smug. But then again, she has just knelt down in front of her and begged her to marry her and has full control over Eve's life so I she does have every right to look smug. 

The trip to the office for the Department of Homeland Affairs was somewhat uneventful, it was lots of Eve grumbling and picking at her fingernails as she waited for the agent to come and see them. Apparently this man did actually enjoy meeting the people who he was about to deport, he wanted to get rid of them while laugh at their suffering, Villanelle is pretty sure he would do this even without the pay.

"Eve, stop fidgeting." Villanelle whispers, leaning over to Eve's ear in a way that looks intimate whilst feeling the exact opposite. She rests her hand over Eve's and the fidgeting stops. Villanelle thinks that they are going to pass this meeting easily if she keeps this up, all it would take is a delicate touch here and a soft smile there. 

"Miss Park?" The gruff tone interrupts Villanelle's thoughts as both of their heads snap up. Both stand, Villanelle completely at ease as she slips her fingers between Eve's and walks towards the door the man is holding open. "So, I'm gonna skip the pleasantries and get straight to it. Miss Park, you have missed the deadlines set in every letter that has been sent out to you. We hold very strict rules here in the US. You're set to be deported in a week's time, you need to get your affairs in order a-"

"Sorry to interrupt but I do need to tell you the reason I shouldn't be deported, at least not right now." Eve's voice is steady, her hand reaching over for Villanelle's as Raymond's face starts to turn a truly ugly shade of red.

"Miss Park, you do not have a choice in the matter. Unless you have a time machine in your purse then-"

"I'm engaged." Eve interrupts, annoyed by his cocky attitude. "I have been for four months and we have been planning the wedding in advance and trying to sort out how Villanelle is going to sell her apartment."

Villanelle plasters on a fake smile, her hand squeezing Eve's rather harshly because she will absolutely not be selling her flat with high ceilings and open space. She has purposely given Eve one of her rings in the hope that he would just believe them and get on with his day. His eyes do flick to their joined hands and the very expensve Tiffany's ring on Eve's left hand. Villanelle knows he can see that it is an expensive ring, to expensive to buy on a whim.

"You do realise that if you were to be, I don't know, faking this marriage to keep Miss Park here in the country you would be committing fraud and could face time in prison?" The ginger asks, his face in what seems to be a constant scowl. Villanelle briefly wonders if maybe Carolyn was right when she would warn her that her face would get stuck that way if she held it too long.

"I am not going to fake marry my boss. Firstly, have you seen me? I don't need to fake marry anyone with a face like this. Also, marrying my boss seems to create way more problems than it solves. Love is the reason I am marrying Eve. She is dedicated, hardworking, and, although she is rough around the edges, she is one of the most important people in my life." Villanelle's little speech leaves Eve a little shocked if the expression on her face is anything to go by. She thinks she did a good job, Konstantin had always told her to sprinkle truths in with a lie to make it more believable. 

"Very well then. I'll be visiting your apartments this weekend and will assess from there." He grumbles with an eye roll, not quite giving away if he believes them but showing enough to make someone much weaker than Villanelle sweat nervously.

"Oh, sorry, it's my parents 30th anniversary this year so I'm going to be in Alaska celebrating. Sorry if that puts a halt on things, Mr...?" Villanelle something akin to a smile appear on his face as he looks between her and Eve.

"Raymond Edwards. Are you going alone?" He asks, that insufferable look making Villanelle twitch slightly with the urge to punch him directly in the face. She's sure a broken nose couldn't harm a face like that any more.

"Eve has a lot of work she needs to get done so we thought we would leave the first parent meeting until she can actually spend time with them." Villanelle counters with a fake, sickly sweet smile. She isn't budging on this; she needs her promotion and her arsehole of a boss because it could always be worse.

"Honey, I'll speak to Jess and see if she can serve it out across the rest of the team if you want? I know Elena has been absolutely dying to get her hands on one of the papers I was editing." Eve's face is cautious, clearly not wanting to overstep her boundaries but knowing that it seems out of ordinary for a fiance to not go and visit family with such big news.

"Yes. Oh my God, baby, that would be great! I'll call my parents when we get out of here." Villanelle is staring at Eve like she may have slightly lost her mind but she just wants to leave this grey box before she actually does punch a federal agent. It would be pretty funny to be arrested for a different crime than the one she's here for, though. 

"I'll be seeing you very soon, ladies." His words have venom dripping from them, a clear intention to ruin whatever plans are going to unfold. 

Stridding out of the room, Villanelle drags Eve right out of the building and down two streets before she stops abruptly, giving Eve whiplash.

"Well, that could definitely have gone better." She breathes, leaning against the wall of the shop behind her with her hands in her pockets before chuckling, "you are going to fucking hate Alaska."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the ring, it's stunning but also casual enough to be worn for not an engagement, not that I think Vil would care too much;  
> https://www.tiffany.co.uk/jewelry/rings/tiffany-co-schlumberger-sixteen-stone-ring-GRP00053/
> 
> Let me know if this is too dense or anything through either twitter (@PowerSuitDyke) or in the comments. Thanks for all the support :) xo


	3. we were reaching in the dark, that summer in New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i thought i'd be better at this, jesus christ. here's an update after a month, i was right about boris though :)

The seats on the plane were first class, despite what Eve would have thought and shortly after sitting down Villanelle feels a file dropped onto her lap.

"Wow, anal retentive is probably too nice." Villanelle mutters, disregarding Eve's death glare as she flips through the folder. "I know all of this, Eve."

Eve looks at her in disbelief, she has found that she's been doing this a lot since their scheme started. "That's definitely not true."

"It is." Villanelle scoffs, dropping the folder back in Eve's lap.

"Fine. What's my favourite colour?"

"It's blue. You like to pretend it's black and are all angsty about it but you actually like blue." Villanelle counters with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine, where did I go to school?"

"You went to Mercy High School when you were living in Connecticut and you got your degree at Brown." 

"What am I most ashamed of?"

"That you smoke." Villanelle's answer comes out easy and Eve freezes, her eyes wide before she turns to Villanelle.

"How do yo-"

"I'm your assistant, I know everything about you. The smoking thing you hide very well but I had a voicemail from a doctor saying you cancelled your appointment and suggested you visit a bunch of websites to 'stop smoking'. That and the smell you cover well to anyone who isn't around you 24/7." Villanelle's self-satisfied smirk knocks Eve for six, she knows there is half a pack of cigarettes in her bag right now, hidden in a little silver case she hides in the zip compartment. "You're also not smoking this weekend, my family know I wouldn't date a smoker and I really do hate the smell." 

"Fine." Eve breathes, feeling resentment rise. She brought the pack so she could deal with the stress of this weekend. "Well, it means nothing, if you work beside someone for so long you're bound to notice things."

"Okay then. I'll just test your little theory. How many siblings do I have?" She asks and Eve is happy that they're in first class and not squashed together because she's sure she would have strangled her by now if not for the big arm rests.

"I don't know. Uhh... One?"

"I'm an only child, oh my God, Eve." It's Villanelle's turn to look at her in disbelief as Eve rolls her eyes.

"I should have guessed." 

Villanelle's scowl is obvious and she adds through gritted teeth, "I grew up with my cousin and step cousin."

"You grew up with your aunt and uncle? Not your parents?" Eve's confusion is evident and Villanelle wonders if Eve is actually interested or she's just trying to aggravate her more by her clear lack of basic knowledge.

"Yes. They are who we are going to see. It's their anniversary."

"But you said it was your parents... You know what, it hardly matters. This doesn't prove your points."

Villanelle stares at her in disbelief. Of course Eve wanted her to know every detail about her and study a file but doesn't care enough to actually ask basic questions.

"Where did I get my degree?"

"UCLA?"

"I got it at Harvard. Holy fuck. Did you even read my resume?" Her voice has raised slightly and a couple of people look at them annoyed.

"I'm not expected to remember everything from it, Miss Astankova." Her voice is cold and Villanelle is tired of her already. "Tell me some basics."

"No."

"Wha-"

"No, Eve. You have no knowledge and you don't really care enough to find out. You're on your own, have fun figuring it out." With those words Villanelle put on her headphones and closed her eyes, pointedly ignoring Eve for the rest of the flight.

They walked through the arrival lounge, Villanelle looking like she owned the building while Eve, who was usually regarded to do the same, looked meek. She had encountered lots of new challenges and faced them no problem, her promotions had proved that. However, this was more than that and Villanelle's silence and her own lack of knowledge left her vulnerable, a position she hated to be in. She's broken out of her thoughts when Villanelle clearly spot someone, her walk becoming more determined as she grins at a grey-haired, bear-like man and a thin, pointed woman with short red hair.

"What are their names?" Eve hisses as they approach and Villanelle turns and looks at her with a smirk.

"If you had cared more, maybe you would have found out."

"Miss Astankov-"

"Villanelle!" The man shouts, pulling her into a big hug and chuckling to himself. "It's so lovely to see you!"

"Hey, Konstantin." She smiles before turning and hugging the red head. 

"Hi, Carolyn." Moving away from the pair, she moves towards Eve before putting her hand on her lower back, gesturing to her. "This is Eve Park, my girlfriend."

"Hello, Eve." Konstantin says while Carolyn looks at her with distrust evident.

"It's lovely to meet you both." She smiles, holding her hand out to shake before she gets pulled into a hug by Konstantin.

"I can't say it's not nice to put a face to the name, although it is usually 'ice queen' you're referred as." He jokes and she doesn't miss Villanelle punch him in the arm as Carolyn pulls her in.

"What do you say we get back to the house? The boat ride isn't too far." He grins and Eve freezes as everyone starts walking. Villanelle notices and takes Eve by the hand, pulling her along.

"I also know you can't swim. Don't worry, it's literally five minutes." Villanelle should be more pissed off with Eve and, to be honest, she still is but they need to pull this off and she sure as hell isn't gonna miss her opportunity for a promotion because Eve is scared of the water.

In the car, the conversation is light and Eve decides to stare out of the window instead of joining in and messing up. She keeps seeing the names 'Vasiliev & Martens' on everything. Literally. There is a hardware store with the name, a restaurant, a clothes shop, an electronics store.

"Who are Vasiliev and Martens?" She whispers into her ear and Villanelle looks at her with a raised eyebrow before pointing at the two people in the front.

"Wait, what? You own an entire empire? Are you rich?" She hisses, loud enough to catch Konstantin and Carolyn's attention.

"I'm not rich, Eve. My parents are." Her response leaves Eve in shock, surely Villanelle didn't come from this, the girl dresses well but everything else about her screams community college.

"It would be yours if you had stayed." Konstantin's voice had an undercurrent of judgement that results in Villanelle tensing slightly.

"Yes, and it's yours because I didn't." She grumbles back, knowing that this conversation would go downhill quickly if she didn't change the subjects. "I'll show you around tomorrow or something."

The car stops before Eve gets to answer and she just nods slightly before opening the door, walking around to the boot only to find Villanelle and Konstantin already carrying everything. Villanelle's look tells her not to question it so she just accepts it and follows Carolyn towards the edge of the dock, freezing when she sees the boat. 

"I am not getting on that." She hisses at Emma who is already transferring their luggage onto it.

"Well, you can't swim so it's the boat or nothing." She murmurs back, hostile and still annoyed from earlier. Her Konstantin had only annoyed her more.

"I can't."

"Then I'll give you your bag and you can find a hotel. I'll see you Sunday." She hisses as she loads the last bag onto the boat.

"What's wrong?" Konstantin asks, looking at Eve.

"I'm just a little afraid of the water." Villanelle replies for her, already sat in the boat with one leg up on another seat.

"We have a life vest if you need it but it is only a short trip." Carolyn offers her and she nods shortly before inching slowly towards the boat. Noticing her trepidation and really just wanting to get home and shower, she stands and takes Eve's hand, pulling her slightly before helping her get onto the boat.

"Put your vest on and sit next to me. You'll be fine." She offers with a smile that looks more like a grimace before sitting back down again, her hand still in Eve's vice grip which is where it remains for the entire boat journey.

The house looks the same as it always has and Villanelle lets out a sigh at the sight, she's carrying both hers and Eve's luggage up to the house while Eve trails behind. Eve's disbelief when coming up to the island was amusing enough to Villanelle, her hissed "you live on an island?!" managed to cool her sour mood slightly. That was until she noticed the cars.

"Erm.. Carolyn? Why are there so many cars here?" She can't help the apprehension in her tone, she just wanted to shower and maybe go on a run, she did not want to have to deal with anymore people. 

"We're having a celebration for you finally returning home, it's been four years, Vil'." Carolyn counters and Villanelle turns around with a scowl, ready to raise hell, before Konstantin chimes in.

"Your mother is excited, Villanelle. So is everyone else, it's been so long." He counters and Villanelle can't help the childish side of her that wants to shout that she isn't her mother and call out Konstantin too but she refrains. She gets why they've done this, so she plasters on a smile and continues.

"We're dropping off their bags and then everyone can say hi. Come on." Konstantin says to the crowd before there's a loud cheer at Villanelle's arrival. She gives a small waves before following Konstantin up the stairs, dragging Eve behind her with her free hand so she doesn't get stolen away before they've talked. 

They walk down the hall towards her old bedroom and she lets a small smile creep onto her face. She hated living here, being stuck in a small town with a set future when all she wanted was to run. Konstantin and Carolyn were great when they adopted her but she was already far too fucked up to fully enjoy living this way. It was nice having a family but it was suffocating at the same time. She wanted to run and start a new life, not sit in this small town with it's close-knit community and be the heir to this empire she had no care for.

"Here you go, we added a couple of blankets because it's getting colder at night." Konstantin says as he deposits one of Eve's bags into the room. 

"We're staying in her together?" Eve asks, eyebrows up to her hairline and that same shocked look that seems to have made permanent residence on her features.

"Konstantin and I are under no illusions that you don't share a bed in New York, we wouldn't separate you now. Villanelle is very sneaky anyway, she'd find a way to be with you whether we left you on the island so there's not point separating you." Carolyn's voice is voice is soft as she chides Villanelle, she has a soft smile on her features as Villanelle puts the bags down and coughs awkwardly.

"Thanks. I just wanna wash my face and we'll be down, right Eve?" Villanelle breaks the soft moment and Konstantin laughs.

"You have ten minutes before Carolyn comes to get you, I can't hold her off too long. Hurry." Konstantin jokes before closing the door on the pair, and Eve's mortified face is staring at the closed door before she turns to Villanelle.

"He-" 

"Yes, Eve. He probably does. Don't look so disgusted, I'm hot." She jokes, trying to ease the obvious discomfort on Eve's face as the look does not change but her gaze just shifts to the bed. "I'll stay on the floor." She murmurs with an eye roll, walking into the bathroom to wash her face.

"Don't be stupid, I'll stay o-"

"No, you're my guest. The thought of sharing a bed is clearly uncomfortable so..." she trails off, dabbing her face with a towel as she walks around the room. "I'm on the floor, there are plenty of blankets." 

Eve just stares at her as she potters about, fixing a few things. It feels different, Villanelle is clearly in her element and in control, she looks different in that way. She has always looked confident when in the city but this is a new confidence, something she hasn't seen before. She shakes her head slightly to rid herself of her thoughts as she chuckles.

"What?" Villanelle questions, walking to the door. She turns to look at Eve and, upon getting no reply just rolls her eyes. "Are you ready?"

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to dm me on twitter; @PowerSuitDyke


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